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Still, it feels like there’s a knot in my stomach.
“Shethinksyou killed her mom,” Giovanni says it as if he didn’t just confess that’s what happened not even thirty minutes ago.
“What would make her think that?” Vito asks, holding his hands out to the side.
“I told her I gave you the order to do it, which I did,” Giovanni’s grip tightens on me once again as if warning me not to say anything. “But you didn’t do it,” he finishes, releasing me as he takes a step back. He folds his arms over his chest, eyeing the confused look on my face. “Dox beat us to her.”
Vito’s brows pull together but then he looks at me, his lips parting. “That was Winter’s mom?” he asks.
“It was Winter’s mom,” Giovanni confirms.
Lucia steps up, a frown on her lips. “Someone’s going to need to clarify for the rest of the class what the hell you two are talking about.”
Giovanni lets out an exasperated breath as if this is all just a big inconvenience for him.
I eye his gun where he’s holstered it, my own irritation rearing its head.
What’s the real fucking truth here?
Sucking a breath and telling myself to listen before I try to kill someone again, I move over to the steps, ignoring the slight twinge of pain in my leg. I guess I landed on it pretty hard when I tackled Giovanni, but I can’t say that it’s not worth it.
I’d do it all over again if given the chance.
Except for almost shooting Enzo, he wasn’t a part of any of this.
I take a seat on the third from the bottom step. Maximo is standing near the bottom and he peers down at me, amusement in his expression before turning away to look at his brother, he waves a hand. “Go ahead and tell us what the hell is going on.”
Giovanni takes a couple of steps back so that he’s facing everyone in the foyer, his expression shrewd as if he’s debating if he wants to reveal his secrets.
Tough fucking luck.
If he doesn’t, not even the United States army will keep me from killing his ass.
Finally, he nods. “Winter’s stepfather came to me with information on Dox years ago.” It takes a moment for me to figure out who he’s talking about.
Paul.
The man who I grew up my whole life thinking was my father, but apparently was only a decoy. The things that man had done to me and allowed to happen to me, he’d been a big reason why I barely made it past teen hood. He’d let his friends and dealers take their turns using me and even my brother, Richard, all so he could get what he wanted.
When he had been killed when I was seventeen, I hadn’t shed a single tear.
“He told me about Winter’s mother and what she and Dox were to each other.” Giovanni rubs his jaw before his gaze flickers to Vito. “So, I ordered Vito to kill Winter’s mother.”
He says the words smooth and easy as if we’re not talking about my mother. My hands ball into fists and I press them into my thighs. I know I won’t be able to catch Giovanni off guard again so I need to be smart as I listen to him.
"But,” his gaze cuts over to me, “I was three years too late.” He wipes a thumb along his lips, shaking his head. “She’d already been long dead, which Paul did not reveal to us. And the coroner’s report was still lost at that time, so when I was doing my research I had no idea she was already dead.”
Holy fuck.
I don’t know what to think as I look between Giovanni and Vito, my stomach twisting.
Vito didn’t kill my mom, but only because she was already dead.
Does that make this situation better or worse?
Frankly, I realize, it only puts us back to where we started, because Dox was still the one who killed my mother, not the Costas.
But there’s still a smudge of irritation and anger tapping against my ribs and I have to swallow it all down.
